Rachel, Out of Office by Christina Hovland

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Seriously profound, heartwarmingly funny. Rachel, Out of Office puts the heart on notice. From heartbreaking to hilarious, Hovland gives emotions a reason to stand up and cheer. It's only fitting that as Rachel find herself she stole my heart. With wit and emotion, Hovland uplifts the soul.



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I don't know what led me to pick up this book but it's cute. Tiny chef lives in the bottom of a tree stump and I loved the inside of his house. His pans are made out of bottle caps and it looks-like thimbles and his chairs are spools of thread. The house is quite quaint and homey but right now, it's a mess! Because it's the first day of fall, Tiny chef is getting ready to prepare a special dish to eat and right now, he can't find the recipe book that has the recipe in it. Tiny Chef is looking everywhere! He's getting quite upset as he needs that book, it has all his favorite recipes. Realizing that he's not getting anywhere in his searching, he decides that he needs to do something else for a minute and that's when, Tiny Chef makes a big discovery.

I enjoyed following Tiny Chef through this process and the ending made me laugh, as I think we all can relate to Tiny Chef and what Tiny Chef learned. The illustrations were enjoyable and entertaining and weren't too busy. I normally don't care for these types of illustrated books but I liked how the illustrations were faded out in the back as I thought they helped to concentrate the story more and provided just enough detail. A great read and highly recommended.

This is book #4, in The Game Changers series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  For reader enjoyment and to avoid spoilers, I recommend reading this series in order.

Eric is a goalie who is on his last season. He has never had to deal with this before, and he is all out of sorts.  Now he can be who he needs to be, love who he wants to love.  

Kyle tells himself he will find someone his own age and be happy.  Then he meets again the man that makes his heart pound, and all his plans fade away.  Can he stick to his guns on this one?  Or will a certain hockey player blow his plans out of the way?

This was a definite sexy book with a slow burn twist.  I loved how the characters seemed obvious to be together.  I also loved the humor, the sparks, and the sexy thrum of heat throughout the entire story.  Such amazing characters, with definite qualities that show they are both individuals and meant to be a couple.  I give this a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review, by Netgalley and its publishers.

by Rachel Strauss

This is a short and basic book about the art of woodburning. It starts with information on safety, which is good, then goes over tools, techniques, ways to add colour and finishes. It mentions different material a pyrography tool can be used on besides wood, including canvas which was a surprise!

The book does provide patterns to follow, but there is a section on project ideas and it does tell how to transfer patterns. Anyone can Google graphic designs and line drawings that can work well.

It does go into how to add texture, but I didn't see a lot on using different line sizes to add shading and other expert techniques. I'd say this is one for the beginner.